Hey, That’s My Cape! – Goodbye To A Comic Shop
A good local comic book shop is worth a thousand mint Detective Comics #27. At least, I think so.
We’ve all had varying experiences with comic retailers but one thing’s for sure, you know a bad one when you see it. And man, do they make me angry, especially when I know some good ones. I’m fortunate enough to not have come across too many of the bad ones in my travels and I certainly haven’t become a repeat customer at any of them, yet still they stand. And I can only think it’s because their customers don’t know they can do better. Trust me. You can.
In this week’s Hey, That’s My Cape! at Newsarama I talk about how much I love my comic shop and how hard it is to say goodbye.
Hi,
Maybe they can FedEx the books to you?
That being said, I know what you mean. I live in Chicagoland, and there's a great family owned shop called Dreamland in Schaumburg. It's clean, organized, and the lady who works there is very friendly. (and she reads comics!)
When I go to my hometown in Toledo, the stores are old and piled with boxes of old merchandise. One store is so cluttered, it's like a maze going in there, you can't see anything, and he has adult magazines right near the action figures.
If I had a kid who wanted to read comics, I would not want him to shop there. (I don't even feel comfortable shopping there.)
If I move back home for financial reason, I will miss that comic shop in Schaumburg.
There used to be an awesome used bookstore dedicated to only science fiction and fantasy books called, Stars Our Destination. I'd make occasional special trips to go there, and they went out of business.
We live in changing times.
When I moved from Central PA to Western Mass three years ago I felt terrible when I told my LCS owner I was moving. He replied "So, I can ship you your books."
Brilliant!
He sends me my books every month when the Previews book lands, and between the discount I get from the pull list and the gas money saved by not having to have to drive 20 miles each way to the nearest shop, I'm still coming out ahead. Plus he gives me great deals on statues and books.
In fact, he just called me this morning to apologize for missing a couple of New 52 #1s in a recent shipment and telling me he was popping in a couple first prints of them into my next shipment.
I'm so glad I stayed with them.
Jill, I know there's no replacing the people and atmosphere of a great LCS…. over the last few years has taken a turn for the worse. It's a tough situation because some of my best friends and I are personal friends with the owner and have been for 15+ years. Many of the old regulars have moved away and the store gradually lost the comraderie and "hangout" feel we used to love. Also, he added a video game trader section of the shop, which now is roughly 40% of the shop….this drastically changed the clientele. Anyway, due to that, personal differences and fincancial woes, I decided to try something different. I checked out dcbservice.com and I did so because their HQ is an hour from me and they have a brick and mortar there. My oprdering is fast and easy, the owners (husband wife team) and staff are SUPER friendly and helpful! Not to mention I can go pick up my books weekly, monthly, whatever…and the discounts are phenomenal!! Between 40% and 75% off almost everything (my LCS offered no discount for a pull list)…you can't beat it. I still buy comics and stuff from my LCS but dcbservice is where I get most everything these days. Check it out!
You inspired me to update my blog with this topic. Thanks (http://kountis-comics.blogspot.com/)
I know the feeling all too well. It hasn't been the same since I moved and had to leave Golden Apple Comics behind.
I can only go to my local shop maybe 6 times a year, and they're all pretty laid back, but helpful and friendly people. I stuck with the slightly more expensive brick-and-motar retailers over the online ones because of the personal experience. Reading this made me remember how much I miss my local shop, and I empathize with the pain of leaving.
I've never known what a really good comic shop was, until recently discovering a new one during the 52 launch.
They're so friendly and knowledgeable that I end up staying an hour just to chat with them. Visiting with them has added a whole new pleasant dimension that I've never experienced before.
I feel for you, anonymous.
I just went through this exact same thing. Reading this article really meant a lot, because no one else really seemed to understand my dilemma. I left Stormwatch Comics in June because I moved. I actually moved almost two years before, but I still commuted every week. It just became too much. I tried a local shop, but it really stunk. I actually ended up quitting comics 3 weeks ago. I now realize that part of what I loved about comics was the comraderie I experienced week to week with the Stormwatch owners and regulars. Once that was gone, comics seemed to lose the importance they once held for me. I haveso much more to say, but I won't clog up your comment section. Just, thanks.